So yesterday the animals ganged up on me. I had a squirrel trying to dig up my potatoes, a rabbit digging a nest in the middle of my yard (5th hole this spring already), and a groundhog took up residence under my shed.

I want to get in on this discussion. Just put in some strawberry plants and a bunch of greens (spinach, leaf lettuce, chard) by seed. We'll probably get at least one more snow before May so the tomatoes are still in the sun room. In years past I've only dabbled in gardening but I've learned the spots in the yard that get too much direct sun and where the shade is. The planting I did last week is in a nice spot in the shade that i cleared then amended the soil. I tend the thing every day like I do my running log. The wife is much happier seeing me in the yard than she is seeing me head out the door in my running shoes. Too funny.

I've sown 38 tomato varieties this year, but I haven't decided yet if I'm going to plant them all out in my greenhouse.

They have been pricked and potted up, and in about two weeks I'll plant them out, unless there should be night frost predicted in the next week....

I'm waiting for my pumpkins and zucchini's to sprout, but the different lettuce-varieties are doing fine. Sowed 5 basils (Genovese, Dark Opal, lemon-, cinnamon and Thai basil), and they have sprouted yet. They will be planted out in the greenhouse in between the tomato plants.

Next weekend I'm going to prepare the bed for the squashes. (6 different wintersuashes, 3 zucchini)

Running in BelgiumAnn

vegefrog

posted: 4/19/2012 at 1:33 PMmodified: 4/19/2012 at 1:33 PM

MrFinn, yikes!!!!! Get those critters! Do you have cats? My two seem to do a great job of making sure other animals stay away...though they do tend to dig in the flower beds sometimes. I give them a pass on that since they do such a good job of making sure nothing gets my veggies!

Ann-V I tried lemon basil for the first time last year. I liked it a lot! Pesto made with it tastes delightful!!

After having the hottest March for 100 years it's now the wettest April for 80 years and cold and it's predicted to be a record breaking cold and wet May but there again we are suffering from a drought, my Asparagus has retreated so far I'm considering spraying it with Viagra

After having the hottest March for 100 years it's now the wettest April for 80 years and cold and it's predicted to be a record breaking cold and wet May but there again we are suffering from a drought, my Asparagus has retreated so far I'm considering spraying it with Viagra

After having the hottest March for 100 years it's now the wettest April for 80 years and cold (...)

My grandfather used to say:

"Een droge maart

is goud waard,

Als 't in april

maar regenen wil"

(A dry March is worth gold, at least if it rains in April...)

And yes, we had a dry and warm March here in Belgium too, and April is cold and (rather) wet, so I'm still hoping it will be a good gardening season, although I see that many things are later than usual. (Our appletrees are only just starting to flower.)

Heh. Those dumbass squirrels can't resist peanuts. He wasn't very happy being in there. One down.

If he were at my house that trap would be the least of his concerns. Good job.

I have not done a detailed inspection but there is "some" green coming back on the grape vines. The orchard trees appear to have flowered so friggin' early that the buds may have dropped and future fruit become safe before the two day frost hit. The worst hit stuff on my property was the grape vines and sycamore trees. The sycamores are still brown.

We have rabbit problems. However the spaniel does a pretty good job of keeping the fear of God in them. I moved the rabbit-attracting stuff up close to the house in our new kitchen garden; right now there is volunteer lettuce up and they haven't touched it despite being EVERYWHERE....may need to do some herd-thinning myself. I have ~14 acres of tall grass behind my yard, so until I cut it they have little need to cause problems in the yard proper. The hawks can see them there. I do have one squirrel though ripped the flapper off my dryer vent and made a next in there. I replaced it and he tried again. I'm waiting for the spaniel to corner him in a tree....

"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand